Seed-potato cutter



Dec. 18, 1928. 1,695,905

T. A. TRUE SEED POTATO CUTTER Filed April 11, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 1; 5 l 2 o I 34 a n a 34 Thomas A. True Attornqy Dec. 18, 1928.

T. A. TRl JE SEED POTATO CUTTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1928 Inventor Attorney Thomas A. True Dec. 18, 1928.

- T. A. TRUE sman POTATO CUTTER -5 Sheets-Sheet Filed April ].l, 1928 Inventor Dec. 18, 1928. 1,695,905

T. A. TRUE SEED POTATO CUTTE R Filed April 11, 1928 s Sheets-Sheet 4 Thomas A. True 1 m 39 1 Attorney Inventor Dec. 18, 1928. 1, 95,905

T. A. TRUE SEED POTATO CUTTER Filed April 11, 1928 '5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ULlLlLlLlLyLlLly/LlUUUYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUjUU l5 Thomas A. True q I I B] wm Amrngr Patented Dee-18, 1928.

; Witt-n ,STATE'S GFFIYC-E,

' THOMAS A. TRUE,

or DECLO, DA-no;

SEED-POTATO CUT R.

Applieation fi1ed Apri1 11, 1928. Serial No. eeaeae.

tally disposedlinite being arranged for vertieal movement atlqaeent the vertical knives so that a potato may be out horizontally as well as vertically and by arranging the hori-' zontal knife for vertical movement, potatoes of difi'erent sizes ean be properly cut up into small sections; A further object of thefn vention is to providea seed potato cutter whi'eh includes a potato engaging ineinher that arranged torwardly of the knives and which is furthermore operatively associated with the vertically movable horizontal out ter to properly position the same depending upon the size of the po't-ato that is being cut up into small sections. A still further object of the invention is to provide seed potato cutter that includes a plurality of spaced pusher members that force the potatoes one at al tirne into engagement with the cutting mechanism, said pusher members being capable of vertical sli-dable movement through the platform on which the potatoes are si ipport-' ed so that said pusher inen hers will move downwardly after passing beneath the cutting, ineohanisin. 7

lie-further object is to provide a seed potato cutter of the above mentioned Character which is simple in construction, inexpensive, strong and durable and further well adapted to the purposes for which. it is designed.- Other objects and advantages will become apparent during the course or the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming; a part of this specification, and in which like numerals indicate like parts tl'i'roughout the same f Figure 1 is a top plan view'of a seed potato cutter embodying iny invention,

Figure 2 is a detail perspective view of one of the pusher members",

Figure 8 is a detailfragmentary perspective view of he horizontal cutting knife'and the suppor ing" bars therefor,

igure l; is a vertical sectional view taken apprdiiinately on the line ,4t-l of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, I Figure 5 is a transverse section taken ap proximately on the line ofFi'gure 41061; ing in the direction of the arrows, the lower portions of the pressure member-snot h'e ing' shown,

Figure 6 is a detail perspective View of the caln t-raclr forming a salient part of the present invention, l Figure 7 is a sectional view taken approxt inatelyontlie line 77 of Figure 4 looking upwardly,

F were 8' is a vertical section taken on the line 8 of Figure 4 lodlfiing in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 9 is adetai-l perspective view of the potato plate showin the slit formed in the h i for -aeconini'o" at-ing. the vertical 1've Figure lit) is as "etio nal view taken approxin'iately on the line 1O"1OYo f Figure and Figure 11 is a View partly in elevation and partly in section at the Cutting; nieehanisin n the petato' en ing plate her a'sso (sited with th ontal out knife.

n s wherein tor tnepurpose or ont al portion or the plate In the draviun illustration is shown the preferred ernloodi nient of my invention, the numeral 1 designates generally a stand, the same coniprising the corner posts? each of whifeh is forined with an inwardly eX-tendingj summer or lug 3 for supporting the base .t'in' the mnner as clearly shown intheFigures 45 and 5 of the drawings. A relatively thit-l': plate 5 is supported between the upper ends of the corner posts in anv a fnjrop 5 is "formed with an 5 v for a purpose to be p1 esen'tly described.

A center post or standard 6 is secured at its lower end on the-base 4 by any suitable re nia'nn'er and this top 'ed central opening fastening means as shown at 7v and as is'inoie clearly shown 1n;Figu'1'e 5 01 the, drawings,

this post or standaird is rectangular in cross section:

The upper e'dfu'ee'd end 8' of this post or ion ' radial standard 6 projects upwardly through the central opening formed in the top and an annular flange 9 is formed on this post at its juncture with the reduced upper end 8 as clearly illustrated in Figure 1. A circular disk surrounds the reduced upper end 8 of the post or standard 6 and is rigidly attached to the flan go 9 by the securing means shown at 11. An annular flange 12 is formed on the periphery of this circular disk 10 at the bottom thereof for supporting the inner peripheral edge portion of the ring-like platform 13 that is disposed within the enlarged opening formed in the top 5 and the outer diameter of this ring-like platform is slightly less than the diameter of the opening formed in the top 5. Suitable ball. bearings such are shown at 1 1 in Figure 4 are arranged be tween the bottom face of the inner edge portion of the ring-like platform 13 and the ad jacent face of the flange 12 to permit the easy rotation of the platform. Gear teeth are formed on the bottom face of the ring-like platform 13 adjacent the outer peripheral edge thereof and meshing with the gear teeth 15 is the spur gear 16 secured on the inner end of a shaft 17 that is secured to the underside of the top 5 in a suitable hearing 1.8, a pulley 19 being secured on the outer end of this shaft 17 for connection with any suitable driving means.

The intermeshing gears provide the means whereby the platform 13 may be rotated. lVhile I have shown the platform as being rotated through the medium of intermeshing gears, it is to be understood that the platform may be frictionally driven but I do not wish to limit myself to the particular manner in wl 'ch said platform is adapted to be rotated. As clearly shown in Figures 1 and 10 of the drawings, the upper face of the ring-like platform 13 is formed with the concentrically arranged annular grooves 20 and the purpose thereof will be hereinafter more fully explained. Furthermore, the platform 13 is formed with a series of spaced slots 21 that extend completely through the ring-like platform. A spider including a rectangular hub 22 and the radial arms 23 is secured on the intermediate portion of the center post or standard 6 and supported by the outer ends of the radial arms 23 of this spider is a cam shaped track 24;- The specific construction of the cam track is shown very clearly in Figure 6 of the drawings. A circular vertical wall 25 extends around the opening formed in the top 5 and the lower edge of this wall is formed with the attaching ears 26 that extend outwardly and are secured to the upper face of the top 5 as clearly shown in the drawings.

An inner circular wall 27 is arranged above the stationary disk 10 and the lower edge of the inner wall is formed with inwardly extending attaching cars 28 that are secured will now be specifically described.

to the upper face of the disk 10 as shown in Figure 1. intersecting cross bars 29 are secured at their points of intersection on the upper end of a reduced portion 8 of the center post 6, the cross bars being secured at their outer ends to the inner face of the upper edge portion of the inner circular wall 27 as also shown in Figure 1. The inner and outer circular walls provide a hopper designated by the numeral 30 for disposition over the rotatable ring-like platform '13 and this hopper is provided with a discharge chute shown at 31 in Figure l and this chute is formed by leaving a portion of the outer cir- ('ular wall 25 open and having one end of the outer circular wall disposed outwardly at An additional vertical wall 33 extends tangentially from the inner circular wall 27 across the form at the top of the stand. Also forming a salient part of the present invention are the potato pressure members shown at Each of these pressure members inludes a rectangular-shaped plate 35 that is,

adapted for vertical slidable movement through the respective radial slots 21 formedin the rotatable ring-like platform 13.

The upper edge of the plate 35 is formed with the cutout portions 36 to accommodate the vertical cutting knives, the construction of which will be presently described. The lower edge of the plate 35 of each pressure member is formed with the reduced neck portion 37 and carried by this neck portion is the hook-shaped member 38 that cooperates with the depending annular flange 39 formed at the outer edge of the circular or cam-shaped track 24 in the manner as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. A wire ring 40 extends through suitable openings provided in the several. vertically movable pressure members and by providing this wire ring, said pressure members may be successively raised and lowered by reason of the cooperation between the hoop-shaped members 38 and the cam track 2 1. For the purpose of steadying the vertically reciprocable pressure members, there is secured on the underside of the rotatable ring-like platform adjacent each of the slots 21, a lug all engages with one face of a plate 35 of each pressure'memher as clearly illustrated in Figure 8 of the drawings. The cutting mechanism forming an important part of the'present invention A bar 42 extends across the hopper 30 adjacent the discharge chute 31 and the ends of this bar are rigidly secured to the inner opposed faces of the walls of the hopper.

A series of parallel spaced vertically disposed cutting knives 13 are rigidly secured at their upper ends to this cross bar and the lower free ends of the cutting knives extend downwardly into the respective annular grooves 20 provided therei'hr in the upper face of the rotatable ring-like platform and a ms-sea this feature is clearly shown in Figure 10 of the drawings. he cutting edgesof the vertical knives are remote from the discharge chute and lateral extensions 44 are 'formed on the opposite longitudinal edges of the respective cutting lrnives "adjacent "the lower ends "thereof. Vertically disposed guide fingers extend upwardly from the outer and s oft'he lateral extensions as clearly shown in Figure 11 and the purpose of these guide fingers will be presently apparent. The cuttii'i'g mechanismfu'rther includes the provision of a horizontally disposed cutting knife do that arranged rearward'ly of cu i"ng knives f and this horizontal cutting knife is supported by the suspension bars 47 a rran'g'e'd the respective ends of the knife 46. The suspension bz'irsext-end upwardly and are 'pivotally connected at their upper ends to the intermediate portions of the levers 48, which leve's are *se'c'ii'led at their rear ends to suitah brackets 49, one of said brackets being at .che'd to the inner wall '27 of the "hopper whilethe other "bracket is secured to theou'ter wallof the hopper as morec learly disclosed in Figure 1. i

In ii'an ner, the horizontally disposed cutting knife lt will'be adapted for vertical s'l'i able inkfvein'en't adajacent the rear longitudinal e of the Vertical cutting knives il-8 and' t 'e horizontal cutting kni'fe lfi is formed wi t'l'i a plurality of openings 50 to.

' aoco'i modate the upwardly extending guide fingc f5. he -n ea 'n'sfor effecting the raising andlo'w 'ing of the horizontally disposed cutting linife LG includes a potato engaging plate 51 that is arrangedforwardly of the vertical cutting knives 43 and the'upper. edge of this vertical pila'tehl is fori'u'edwith the pairsof spaced 'aperture'd ears 52 for pivotal connection 'tothe forward ends of the respective levers 4&8. 're'arwan'illy inclined strip eaten ds 'do-ivnwa rdl'y from the lower edge of the vertical portion 5 1 and is designated by the numeral 53 and the lower edge of this strip merges with the horizontally extending portion of the potato engaging "member and this 'rearwardly "extending horizontal portion 54L- is formed with the longitudinally extending slots 55toaccomniodate'tlie respec tive vertically disposed knives -43 "and the guide lingers 45 arranged rearward'ly of'said vertical knives.

In Figure '9 of the drawings, the specific construction of the potato engaging unit is clearly illustrated. 'Normally the horizontally disposed cutting knife 46 rests'on the laterally extending ,po'rtions 44 as indicated by the full lines in Figure 1 1. The operation of my improved seed potato cutter may be briefly stated as follows. Potatoes are placed in the hopper-30 and'duringthe rotation-of theplatform "13 on which th-epotatoes are carried,said cam track will cooper te with the vertical pressure menibersh ito-feed the potatoes one at a ti nae to the cutting mechanisnran d incutting: nail potatoes into small sections the po'tato engagiaig memher wi l be engaged by *su'cvh s iall potato consequent the vert-ic; =lyni ovablelu-ir tal kni e f?) avi'l l rest on the lateral extensions 4:4 and the cuttih "edges of the vertical and horizontal "bars wi-llcut the potato forced through the cutting methanism into small pieces or sections. The cutout portions 36 framed in the outer edges of each of the pressure members will tern'iinate the vertical. knives 43 and it will be ofcourse understood tlmt t lre uppere'd'ge of'each pressure member that passes through the cutting mechanism willbe disposed below the horizmital knife 1% so as not to interfere with the rotation of the platform,

The smallscctions that have l'ie'en cut up will be discharged from the hopper through the discharge chute 31 into a suitable recepmole and as the upwardly disposed upper ends of the prer-zsu-re members gproach the side wall '33 of the discharge chute-31;, the cam 'ortrack Will cooperate with the hooks 38 to lower the pressure members so that the same will not the side Viilll 83. When potatoes of medium or large sizes are delivered i to the cuttingmechanism ofthemachine, said potatoes willengagethe member 51-and the inclined portion 52 thereof to "efi -ect the-raisingof said member upwardly to the position shown in dotted line and this will result inthe levers l8 being'raised tothrust the horizontalrutting bar '46 upwardly on the guide "fingers 4-5 so-tl at-said h'orizmitalcutout will cut through the approximate center "of alarge potato after the vertical cutters or knives have slitthe potato vertically. The potato engaging unit and the Vertically movable horizontal knife will return to their normal positions by gravity a fte'r a large size potato l"aspassedthrough the cuttingmcchanisni.

It 'Wll'l thus be seen from the foregoing description, that I have provided aseed potato cutter which Wlll'ttt all times be-positivc and eflicient *its operation in; cutting potatoesintosmall sections for planting purposes and due to its simplicity, the parts can be readily and easily assemble t. A seed "cutting machine of the above-mentioned charact-er will save considerable time and labor and furthermore due to its simplicity'can be constructed at avery low-cost.

While l have'shownthe preferred embodi- J ll) "mento f my invention, it is todoe understood "that various changes irrthe size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to Without departing from thespirlt of the inven- 'tionand the'scope'of the appended claims.

' W'hat Ii laiIn-is I 1. *Ina seed 'p'otatoeutter, a stand, a rotat- 'iible potatoreceiving platform arranged on thestand,"stationary spaced rertic' ai'l cut-ting i knives arranged above the platform, a vertically movable horizontal cutting knife disposed adjacent the stationary vertical cutting knives, means carried by the rotatable platform for feeding the potatoes one ata time to the cutting mechanism, and a potato engaging unit arranged forwardly of the cutting mechanism and being operatively con nected with the horizontal cutting knife for actuating the same depending upon the size of the potato that is fed to the cutting mechanism.

2. In a seed potato cutter, astand, a potato receiving platform rotatably mounted on the stand, a cutting mechanism arranged above the platform, a discharge chute extending across the platform on one side of the cut ting mechanism, and vertically slidable pres sure members extending through the platform for feeding the potatoes one at a time through the cutting mechanism, and means for effecting the lowering of the vertically slidable pressure members to permit the same to pass beneath the discharge chute.

3. In a seed potato cutter, a stand, a potato receiving platform rotatably mounted on the stand, a cutting mechanism arranged above the platform, a discharge chute extending across the platform on one side of the cutting mechanism, vertically slidable pressure members extending through the platform for feeding the potatoes one at a time through the cuttting mechanism, means for effecting the lowering of the vertically slidable pressure members to permit the same to pass beneath the discharge chute, said last mentioned means including a cam track arranged below the platform the lower portion of each pres sure member being cooperatively associated with the cam track.

l. In a seed potato cutter, a stand, a rot-atable platform arran ed on the stand, a hopper for disposition above the platform, a discharge chute extending from the hopper, a cutting mechanism arranged within the hopper forwardly of the discharge chute, a cam track supported on the stand below the rotatable platform, said platform being formed with a plurality of radially disposed slots, a potato pressure member slidably vertically through each slot for feeding the potatoes to the cutting mechanism during the rotation of the platform, and cooperating means between the lower portion of each pressure member and said cam track whereby the upper edge of the pressure members will be moved to an inoperative position during the move of the pressure members beneath the discharge chute.

5. In a seed potato cutter, a stand, a cutting mechanism (lOll'ipllSlllga plurality 'of stationary spaced vertical cutting knives, a llOIl: zoiital cutting knife arranged rearwardly of the vertical cutting knives, suspension arms extending upwardly from the ends of the horizontal cutting knife, a pair of levers pivoted intermediate their ends through the upper ends of said suspension bars, the rear ends of the levers being pivotally mounted on a support, and a potato engaging unit arranged forwardly of the cutting mechanism being operatively associated with the forward ends of the levers to raise or lower the horizontal cutting knife depending upon the size of the potato fed to said cutting mechanisni.

, (5. 111 a seed potato cutter, a stand, a cut ting mechanism comprising a plurality of stationary spaced vertical cutting knives, a horizontal cutting knife arranged rearwardly of the vertical cutting knives, SUSPBIISIOH arms extending upwardly from the ends of the horizontal cutting knife, a pair of levers pivoted intermediate their cndsthrough the upper ends of said suspension'bars, the rear ends of the levers being pivotally mounted on a support, a potato engaging unit arranged forwardly of the cutting mechanism beingoperatively associated with the forward ends ofthe levers to raise or lower the horizontal cutting knife depending upon the size of the potato fed to said cutting mechanism, said potato engaging means comprising a vertical plate connected at its upper edge to the forward ends of the'levers, and a down-inclined rearwardly extending strip formed on the lower edge of said plate.

7. In a seed potato cutter, a stand, a cutting mechanism comprising a plurality of stationary spaced vertical cutting knives, a horizontal cutting knife arranged rearwardly of the vertical cutting knives, suspension arms extending upwardly from the ends of the horizontal cutting knife, apair of levers pivoted intermediate their ends through the upper ends of said suspension bars, the rear ends of the levers being pivotally mounted on a support, and a potato engaging unit arranged forwardly Of the cutting mechanism being operatively associated. with the forward ends of the levers to raise'or lower the horizontal cutting knife depending upon the size of the potato fed to said cutting mechanism, and means for guiding the vertically movable horizontal cutting knife in a vertically sliding position.

8. In a seed potato cutter, a stand, a cutting mechanism comprising a plurality of stationary spaced vertical cutting knives, a horizontal cutting knife arranged rearwardly of the vertical cutting knives, suspension armsoxtending upwardly from the ends of the horizontal cutting knife, a pair of levers pivoted intermediate their ends through the upper ends of said suspension bars, the rear ends of the levers being pivotally mounted ona support, a potato engaging unit arranged forwardly of the cutting mechanism being operatively associated with the forward ends of the levers to raise or lower the horizontal fill tionary vertical cutting knives being spaced With respect thereto, the horizontal cutting knife being formed With an opening through 10 which said finger projects.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

THOMAS A. TRUE. 

